The popular cross-platform podcast player, Pocket Casts, has been purchased by a collective including NPR, This American Life, and public radio stations out of New York and Chicago.
As reported by The Verge, this unique approach to the deal came from a goal to push public radio’s innovation of “discovery and distribution.”
Pocket Casts will run as a joint venture between the collective owners and Owen Grover will serve as CEO, formerly of iHeartRadio. Pocket Casts’ founders will stay in yet to be announced “leadership roles.”
The purchase price is unknown for now with Pocket Casts providing a statement to The Verge saying it was about who the collective is and their vision for the app, not how much they paid.
“We have had acquisition offers in the past,” a spokesperson told The Verge by email. “We turned them down because the unique thing about this opportunity is the mission driven nature of these organizations. They want what’s best for the podcasting space, they want to build open systems that everyone can use.”
Pocket Casts offers popular features like dark mode and multitasking on iPad, smart tools, and more. Pocket Casts is available on the App Store for $3.99.
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